BAA airports suffer from Olympics effect as passenger numbers drop

ABERDEEN was the only BAA airport to see an increase in the passenger numbers last month.

New figures reveal that overall the number of passengers using the UK’s main airports dipped as people stayed at home to watch the Olympics on television.

The five UK airports run by BAA, which include Heathrow, handled 9.6 million passengers in July 2012 – a 4.1 per cent decline on the July 2011 figure.

Numbers at Heathrow fell 4.4 per cent to just under 6.57 million, while Stansted was down 5.3 per cent, Southampton fell 9.5 per cent and Glasgow dropped 0.5 per cent.

Aberdeen, meanwhile, saw an increase of 4.4 per cent.

The Olympics effect was most marked on European scheduled flight passenger numbers, which fell by 6.6 per cent at the five BAA airports last month.

North Atlantic traffic was almost unchanged, while other long-haul routes declined 6.3 per cent.

The increased number of Border Force staff handling immigration at Heathrow in the run-up to the Olympics led to a record-breaking monthly for customer satisfaction at the west London, BAA said.

On a scale of one to five, with five being excellent and four very good, arrivals scored a record 4.3 points last month, with departures scoring 4.22.

There was also a fall – albeit a very small one – in the numbers of passengers using Gatwick Airport, which is now operated by American company Global Infrastructure Partners.

The West Sussex airport handled just under 3.63 million passengers last month – 0.1 per cent fewer than in July 2011.

Gatwick’s chief financial officer Nick Dunn said the slight drop was “in line with industry expectations where fewer Britons were predicted to travel abroad in favour of staying at home to soak up the Games”.